Heidi Gjertsen joined CSF in June 2012 as the technical manager for Micronesia economic analysis projects. Previously, Gjertsen worked at the National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center, where she conducted research on the economics of sea turtle conservation in the Pacific. She has consulted for numerous organizations, including Conservation International, WWF, OneReef, and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council. Projects have included analysis of economic incentives for marine conservation in 15 countries, capacity building for socioeconomic research and community development in West Papua, Indonesia, and investigation of alternative bycatch-reducing fishing strategies in California. She has taught conservation economics courses at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of San Diego-California. Gjertsen received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2003 in the department of Applied Economics and Management. Her dissertation included theory of context-dependent conservation regimes and empirical work on the design and performance of marine protected areas in the Philippines.